Audiobooks discussion

Partway through The Man Who Died Seven Times, which I'm having a bit of trouble picking up again after several days.

How is it June already!!!

I’m working my way through Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia - it’s a doozy at 31hrs

Started Campervans, Cooking, and Corpses

I finished both The Lost World and The Seed Keeper today.

I will be starting June with Atmosphere.

I finished another Jacky Faber,Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber and am now listening to Shanghai by Joseph Kanon. I have about 5 hrs. to go and cannot figure out where it's headed. It's billed as a thriller set just prior to WWII.

I'm starting June with continuing Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I had an audible version but wasn't enjoying the narrator. Today I went to Libby and found so many different narrators. So I switched to another version and restarted. Working better now.

Almost done with Close Friends Only by Kate Alice Marshall Narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya hoping it all comes together and I didn't figure it out in the first hour.

I'm listening to The Last Emperox (oddly pronounced "empero", I guess that's how Scalzi wanted it.) This is the 3rd of a trilogy set in far-future space. It took a while for me to get into the first book with the many characters and technology but eventually I did and went on to the other books. It has one thing in common with When the Moon Hits Your Eye. A catastrophe looms and people react in different ways. Some ignore it, some try to profit from it, some try to help others. Interestingly, all the strongest characters are women, both bad and good. Narrated wonderfully, as always, by Wil Wheaton.

During breaks from my Ancient Greek hero series, I'm listening to the series by Beth Brower starting with The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1. To whoever mentioned these recently, thank you! These are novellas about a spunky young woman living in Victorian London as a poor relation, and they are full of humorous and clever narrative. The audiobooks are expertly read by Genevieve Gaunt.

Had to DNF The Man Who Died Seven Times, by the third time I was bored.

Finished Close Friends Only and happily it did not turn out the way I expected to! However it wasn't the best Kate Alice Marshall.

Now starting A Fortune of Sand: A Novel by, Ruta Sepetys narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

I'm into the fourth Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly, The Last Coyote. I just started the series at the tail end of last month, and although these books are a bit dated having been written in the 90s they are very good. I'm enjoying the narration by the late Dick Hill.

Doug wrote: "I'm into the fourth Harry Bosch novel by Michael Connelly, The Last Coyote. I just started the series at the tail end of last month, and although these books are a bit dated having bee..."

Many years ago I gave my husband a subscription to Esquire magazine which I occasionally read. Esquire did a profile of Connelly when his first book was published. I've been a fangirl ever since.

Jan Mc wrote: "During breaks from my Ancient Greek hero series, I'm listening to the series by Beth Brower starting with The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1. To whoever mentioned these..."

I recently listened to the first in this series. You are right they are great. Austen style writing with a funny, lovable MC and great side characters.

I recently finished A Good Person The narration was really good. She got the protagonists obnoxious personality down pat. I can't reccomend the book, though.

Pamela wrote: "I'm starting June with continuing Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I had an audible version but wasn't enjoying the narrator. Today I went to Libby and found so many different narra..."

I recently listened to this also. It took me a chapter or two to become accustomed to the narrators Yorkshire accent lol. Hope you enjoy it.

iieee wrote: "I recently listened to this also. It took me a chapter or two to become accustomed to the narrators Yorkshire accent lol. Hope you enjoy it."

Thanks iieee. The narrator I am listening to is fine now. But honestly, I'm not enoying the story very much. Maybe it will get better, not giving up on it.

In the meantime I listened to a very short book of short stories: The Secrets of Catspraddle Village by Callie Browning. The author narrates and does a decent job of it. They are all set in her home country of Barbados.

I quite enjoyed this, and it's very short just over an hour long. Felt like it was definitely worth the time.

John wrote: "Had to DNF The Man Who Died Seven Times, by the third time I was bored."

Re. The Man Who Died Seven Times I haven't read that one yet, but if you want a great listen in that same vein, check out The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I actually listened to it twice back-to-back because I knew I had missed things the first time. I enjoyed it just as much the 2nd time! It's been described as "Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day meets Quantum Leap". It was a 5⭐️ rating from me, really clever!

I finished Midsummer Moon. The story was a 2* but the narration was 3*s. Fortunately it wasn't long or I probably wouldn't have finished it. Meh.

Now I'm listening to The Keeper by John Lescroart which is back in my comfort zone.

I finished Atmosphere, which was a great read. If anyone is looking for a read for Pride month, I would highly recommend this one and The Lilac People.

I am about to finish Cat's People (which also has a LGBTQ+ relationship in it) and will be starting Yesteryear right after.

In between, I also read Brighter than Before, which was a very sweet read, but had some repetitive thoughts throughout. The narrator (Patti Murin) did a wonderful job. I'll be back with that review soon.

I just finished listening to Whistler by Ann Patchett. The audiobook was read by the author and it was a treat. This might be the best not really about a horse book that I've ever read.

I finished up Automatic Noodle - set in futuristic california which is now its own country and split from the rest of the US - about a group of robots who start a restaurant

A Fortune of Sand: A Novel was interesting and felt a little different than her last few books but still really good.

Now starting the upcoming Paper Ghosts by Sarah Addison Allen Narrated by Marin Ireland Pub Date Sep 01 2026

Finished Brighter than Before . I thought it was a sweet story, but some of the main character's thoughts / comments were very repetitive and the story played out exactly as expected. There was character growth and a lot of positive messages, so still a nice read. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could, which seems to be lower than the popular opinion.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I also finished Cat's People, which was cute.

I've started Yesteryear.

I really liked the mystery series by Sally Rigby starting with Web of Lies, with Sebastian and Birdie as a pair of odd partners solving murders. But I've finished those, so I got the free Audible of Deadly Games. This one also has a partnership - 2 women, a police detective and a forensic psychologist. But unlike the first series, this one is quite gruesome with a serial killer and some chapters from the POV of the killer, which I never like. I don't want to be in the head of that person! It also had some tropes I dislike (view spoiler)[ the killer is such a great actor as to fool everyone for years but suddenly leaves obvious evidence - and a vulnerable family member of the detective is in peril (hide spoiler)]. Also although I am usually bad at guessing "whodunnit", in this case it was obvious halfway through the book and I had to wait for the characters to catch up. The author's note at the end says that the whole series will be about serial killers - no thanks! (how many serial killers can you have in a university town anyway?)

I finished up Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë this week. I found the ending completely satisfactory. I understand why this is a classic, but I didn't quite enjoy the journey.

So then I started up Burn Down Master's House by Clay Cane and The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid. They are not quite the same, but both are fairly unpleasant, or uncomfortable at times with the subject matter. Clay Cane said in his introduction this is purposeful. Yes, but I probably should have spread these two out better.

Robin P wrote: "I really liked the mystery series by Sally Rigby starting with Web of Lies, with Sebastian and Birdie as a pair of odd partners solving murders. But I've finished t..."

Not a fan of the killer's POV either. Not long ago I was surprised to guess the killer in a book as I'm not good at that even where reviewers say they found it obvious. However, I did get "the big reveal" in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine early on.

Robin P wrote: "... Also although I am usually bad at guessing "whodunnit", in this case it was obvious halfway through the book and I had to wait for the characters to catch up...."

I don't even try to guess the whodunnit! Like John, I'm not good at it. Sometimes the author will surprise me, but other times, I'll be face-palming myself, thinking, "Why didn't I see that sooner?" Ha!

I usually don't really care or remember the whodunnit. What I like in a mystery is a great sense of place and time and interesting characters, especially in a series where you get to know them over the episodes.

I like trying to figure out whodunnit - it's like mental gymnastics. I just finished listening to The Keeper by John Lescroart and narrowed down the suspects to just two. By then I was 75% sure which of the two was guilty. I enjoyed the book.

Another Bloody Jack is in my ears - In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber.

I finally finished Yesteryear . I think I have a less popular opinion of it. I enjoyed the first half, but then my interest started to wane a bit. It delved into things that I don't enjoy in stories, but those are my personal preferences. It clearly has a market for this type of story and the writing is good. 3.5★

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Started Three Reasons for Revenge

I agree with Kristie about Yesteryear. I was lead to expect so much and found very little. It's hard to understand why it is on so many Best of the Year (so far) lists.

Kathleen wrote: "I agree with Kristie about Yesteryear. I was lead to expect so much and found very little. It's hard to understand why it is on so many Best of the Year (so far) lists."

Sponsorship and money? I quit doing Goodreads Challenges because I got tired of reading books that publishers were paying Goodreads to promote. I wonder at what creates book "buzz", like the current resurgence in popularity of Lonesome Dove which was written in the 1980s? Yeah I reread it and loved it, but I have two other friends reading it too, and it has a lot of that "buzz".

I am currently enjoying Tad Williams, Into the Narrowdark, which is book 3 of 4 in The Last King of Osten Ard epic fantasy series. Apparently this one was going to be book 3 of a trilogy but it became too long and the publisher wouldn't do another To Green Angel Tower at over 1,400 pages and 60-some hours on audio, Tad was forced to split this book in two.

I wonder about buzz also. I get daily ads for ebooks and audiobooks on sale and newsletters from Book Bub, Literary Hub and others, and the same books seem to show up over and over.

I actually had an early copy of Yesteryear, so I didn't pick it up due to the buzz, but I do think that my expectations were higher once the initial reviews started coming out. The narrator did a great job. It just wasn't my favorite book.

Finished The Calamity Club

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/8627453887

Finished When the Cranes Fly South

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/8560656239

The New York Times spread lots of buzz about Yesteryear. They published a long review, made it their book of the week awhile back, and now it will be the topic of their monthly book discussion at the end of this month. Last Monday they asked readers to send them comments for that discussion. I was tempted to send them my GR review, but didn’t.

London FallingFinished

My review:www.goodreads.com/review/show/8559126709

i'm waiting on London Falling to be available at the library - its on my massive list

If you are looking for an entertaining, cat 'n mouse adventure then may I suggest the book I just finished earlier today...Exit Strategy!

I'm almost done with Three Reasons for Revenge and I started Dead Men Don't Play Fetch today.

I have enjoyed several audiobooks by Cat Sebastian but I felt After Hours at Dooryard Books was rather flat. The main characters are so repressed that it's hard to perceive the chemistry between them. The narration was ok, but the characters weren't as differentiated as they could be.

I have less than an hour left of Finding My Way: A Memoir by Malala Yousafzai. When Malala was fiften she was shot in the head by the Taliban for wanting women to be educated. I did not expect the continuation of her story to be interesting, but it is well worth the time. Don't miss her first book, I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Kathleen wrote: "I have less than an hour left of Finding My Way: A Memoir by Malala Yousafzai. When Malala was fiften she was shot in the head by the Taliban for wanting women to ..."

Yes, those were both excellent. I really like how she shared her teenage and young adult emotions and how difficult it was to be a world celebrity while trying to make friends and integrate into a new culture.

I finished Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, and I can't say enough about the fabulous narration by David Morse. It truly brought the sweet story to life for me.

Took a break from my ongoing audios to listen to The Vigilante Life of Scott McKenzie by Shawn Inmon. This is book 7 in the Middle Falls Time Travel series, but they all do standalone. Sometimes a character from another book shows up, but it doesn't matter really to the storyline if you haven't read any prior book. The premise of these books is what has kept me reading, as the writing style does not. It relies too much on exposition for the story telling for good writing. But it worked for the road trip my husband and I took to a family wedding. Always happy when he can enjoy one of my books while driving.

I finished Three Reasons for Revenge and Adrift.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm now listening to The Women in White .